What is Authentic Public Speaking?

As someone who coaches (amongst other things) authentic public speaking, people understandably often ask me – “So…what is authentic public speaking?”

And it’s a very fair question. I can’t give you a definitive answer, but I can give you my answer.

For me it starts with daring to tell your audience the truth, but more than that it’s about revealing something of the real you, rather than hiding behind a performance. This requires an act of trust in your audience. Trust that you’ll get a fair hearing, trust that who you are unvarnished is worth listening too, and trust that your vulnerability in revealing yourself won’t be used against you.

There’s also something about being as interested in connecting with your audience as in the message that you are seeking to convey to them, a sense that we’re all in this together, and that this moment matters.

I’ve also set down some of my thoughts and experience on this subject in video form (it will be the first in a sequence of videos on authentic public speaking).

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the video and on authentic public speaking in general in the comments section below.